Pets Need Caregivers continued

Pets need Caregivers too - continued

In September 2011 Tippy wanted to “live“in our van.  We had a dog years ago that did the same thing near his death.  He wanted to live in the van we had at that time.  Now when Tippy wanted the same thing I knew it was not a good sign. In the cold months of November, December, and January  I had an electric space heater hooked up to an outlet in the garage with a long extension cord so she would not be cold in the van. Some mornings it was 20 degrees!  I would start the van, turn on the van's heater, and plug in the electric heater at 6 am so it would be warmer when she came out around 8 am. I put a doggie rain coat on her to help keep her warm and the belly bandages covered her groin.

 I had bed pads on the floor of the van. I fed her during the day in the van.  I could lift her butt to help her in but could not lift her down.   I had to use the wheelchair lift to get her down from the van. I used a Bed Sled to move her around inside the van.  Tippy came back into the house every day around 4 pm. 

Life was difficult for Tippy and time draining for me, but I loved her so much.

The last Saturday Tippy was with me, when it was time for her to come into the house, I used the Bed Sled to pull her over to the door of the van and onto the wheelchair lift.  I got her down to the ground and slid her off the lift.  She was still not able to get up.  I could not lift or carry her. I stood in the street in front of my house and flagged down a couple neighbors to help me get her into the house.

They carried her on the Bed Sled onto the wheelchair elevator so I could get her upstairs. I dragged her off the elevator into the house and left her lay.  Awhile later she got up and went into the living room to lie on the bed pad there.  That was where she stayed most of the night.  She was able to get up and walk to the wheelchair elevator twice during the night to urinate in the yard.  But she had such a hard time of it.  She collapsed on the sidewalk coming back to the house.  I was able to help her up but could not carry her. She managed to walk back onto the elevator and we went back into the house. 

She was the same the next day.  She wanted to go back to the van but I could not count on having neighbors handy to move her again so made her stay in the house. 

That night, Sunday, I emailed the vet telling him her condition and requested he put her to sleep the next morning.  I requested he do the job in the van so she would not get excited or anxious.  She always barked and made an excited fuss when we went to the vet.  Now I did not want to make it more difficult for her. 

The vet and his assistant were wonderful.  They climbed into the van with Tippy, checked her over and administered the drug to calm her down.  This alone nearly put her down.  Then they administered the final drug and within minutes she was gone.  So peaceful.  I think Tippy stayed on with me as long as she could.  But she was tired and ready to go.

She is now buried in our yard alongside Tobie, her brother who died 2 years ago from another disease.  I picture them playing together again with no pain of arthritis or hip dysplasia. I miss her and Tobie.

The 4 kittens I wrote about last year are still here.  The Lord works in ways we cannot imagine.  Now that Tippy is gone, the cats (they are no longer kittens) fill the void.  Don asks “where’s the cats?” now, instead of “Where’s Tippy?”

Pets need caregivers too

Tippy Part 1

We buried Tippy Toes, our black lab, Jan 31.

Tippy had tumors most of her life but they were fatty tumors, not painful and of no danger to her. Then she developed a tumor on her lower abdomen that was cancerous.  It appeared literally “suddenly”.  She had been for her check up and was fine. Two days later I found this growth and thought she had bit herself too hard chasing fleas. I watched it for a week and it did not go down in size. I went back to the vet. They aspirated it (drew fluid) and found it was a mast cell tumor. 

This new tumor did not seem to bother her. The vet said it could be removed but with her age she may not survive the anesthesia.   She was 13 years old. We took her home and tried to keep her comfortable.  The vet explained this kind of tumor would fill up and drain, and fill up again.  He said it was full of histamine. Like what we get when we have sinus trouble.  We take anti-histamines. 

Over the next couple months this tumor began to drain.  I made a belly wrap for her with changeable bandages, made from the cut offs from the bed pads we make.  The bandage had Velcro to attach it to the wrap that went over her back and held it in place over her belly.  It looked like a life vest for dogs.  At first I changed it once a day.  A month later it was twice a day.  Since they were bed pad material they were washable.  I did not put them into the wash machine, although I could have.  I did not want to have any residue from the bandages in our clothing. So every day I was hand washing these bandages.  By the fifth month I was changing the pads three times a day.  It drained so much I think she was dehydrating simply because of losing so much fluid.   The last couple weeks she would not eat, and drank very little.  Chicken in broth with mashed potatoes had been a favorite but she had no interest now.  She lived on a few milk bones for a couple days, and then did not want them either.  She was still alert and tried to get around as best she could.

Tippy had hip dysplasia since birth. So she always had trouble getting around. From age 6 months I gave her Glyco-flex for dogs, like the glucosamine that people take.  It made a huge difference in her ability to move around. Now at 13 she had arthritis to deal with too.

With all this, she never eliminated in the house.  Even in her last days.  When she did have to go, she managed to get herself up and walk to the door.  For the last month I let her use my husband’s wheelchair elevator to get out the house without having to do the stairs.  I had bed pads down on the carpet in her favorite places to catch the fluid that leaked passed the bandages and to catch any accidents.

Memorial Weekend and kitties have a cold

It's Friday before the Memorial Day Holiday.  My girls are gone to their homes and families.  The girls are the CNA and the sewing assistant.
Don worked on the hickory wood project today. He was able to use the palm sander to prepare some of the parts for the next step.
All week long he has been very quiet and subdued, not doing much of anything. I was actually able to get something done in the sewing room this week because he was not in his shop requiring my attention.  The girls can't help him with machinery, that's not in their job description. And God forbid they get hurt. So they always have to come get me when he wants something,  Also they can't understand his sign language, pointing to something, describing something with vague hand movements.  Fortunately I know the tools in his shop, and like a surgeon's assistant can know just by what he is doing what tool he will need. Strange comparison I guess but you get the idea.
The cats are starting to sniffle.  BB started it with sniffles and is now bringing up his food. I just called the vet and made an appointment for Tuesday if they are not better.  If one gets it they will all have it soon.
Also got the grass cut this afternoon after I finished altering blouses for a customer. The grass is starting to grow faster than I can manage. That' the down side to summer.
Next week will be busy.  We'll see how it plays out.  Have a good weekend.